Chima Okoli said it was like walking into a “football museum.”

A few days ago, the senior offensive lineman went with 15 or 16 other Penn State football seniors to coach Joe Paterno’s home located just off campus on McKee Street.

The group of players traveled to their coach’s home to discuss important team matters, but the pieces of Penn State football history lining the walls were difficult to ignore.

“You see all these awards, letters from old players, guys that you really only ever hear about,” Okoli said. “It’s kind of cool to see all the tangible things. You’re really walking through history.”

After all squeezing in tightly and enjoying homemade cookies baked by Joe’s wife, Sue, the team got down to business.

With Saturday’s season opener approaching quickly, it was time for Paterno and his players to make a decision that would greatly impact the rest of the season.

It was time to pick team captains.

“I debated what I wanted to do with the captains because we have a lot of good seniors,” Paterno said at his weekly press conference Tuesday. “But I wasn’t particularly anxious to pick the seniors.”

Paterno decided to let his players vote for their captains Monday, and said he will likely announce the results Thursday.

In years past, the two players who have accompanied Paterno to his first pregame press conference of the year have been named captains.

Last season’s captains, defensive tackle Ollie Ogbu and receiver Brett Brackett, joined Paterno in the first press conference.

Okoli and senior safety Nick Sukay spoke with Paterno on Tuesday, but Sukay said nothing is finalized yet.

“We decided that we’d like to vote for a couple captains, then maybe some game captains,” Sukay said. “I’m not sure how it’s going to work out.”

After voting on Monday, the group of seniors who made the trip to Paterno’s home was eager to share its experience with the rest of the team.

There was one thing in particular they saw in Paterno’s house that they, and the rest of the team, still enjoy talking about.

“At first, when we came in, there was this picture of Joe and Jay [Paterno] and the rest of his kids, probably from about 1812,” Okoli joked. “They’re all really young. Jay’s probably a baby. We had some fun with that the last few practices.”